The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-04-19
A SHARP DOCTOR.
The Strange ContagiOn That Appeared in
Healthy Montana Town.


Healthy Montana Town.
Chicago Herald.
in the frontier town of Eagle. NJ. t., where
l live" remarked a traveller from the West, 1--WE
have just had strange contagion Within
few days ope-half the population found itself
afflicted. The disease manifested itself in the
form of blue blotches various parts of the
body, the hands, face and legs being most
marked Some said the discolOration could be
washed off. and others said it couldn't There
was but doctor in town. and he soon had
almost every body in the place under treatment.
You never in your life saw doctor prosper as
that man did He charged enormous fees, which
the people were glad enough to paw, for they
were all very much frightened. The doctor
pronounced the outbreak blue mango, or a
form of the plague. and said that unless it
were skillfully handled the most terrible results
were sure to follow-blood poisoning. decompo-
stion, putrid sores, and death There was no
drug store in town, and he telegraphed to Hell
ena for supply Of the eniy medicine which, he
said, had been found efficacious in such cases.
Pending the arrival of this supply he applied
some sort of oil to the blue spots, and cautioned
the patients against the use Of water on the af-
f1icted parts.
''Well. such excitement as we had in our town
for few days you never saw. The doctor
the one great man in the burg. Every body
wanted him, and the richest secured his services
at great cost. He was up night and day When
the medicine came he said it was very expensive,
and that he had been able to secure but linn
ltou uuhLLisy. consequently uo uoiou IL OuL as
sparinely as if it were gold. and charged at the
rate of $40 bottle
Nobody however, experienced any evil
effects from the scourge. There was pain,
no itching, no discomfort of any sort. The doc
tor said that would eli come quick enough il the
people neglected to apply the proper treatment;
that popularity of the terrible scourge was
that in its first stages it was seemingly harmless.
Some did have a burning sensation in the affiict
ed parts. but this did not appear in in any case
until after they had been to the doctor for treat
ment And thus the days wore by. and it was
only question of week or more when the
doctor would have had all the money in the
town. He had been poor devil. without a
patient, and living from hand to mouth. But
now he fairly rolled in wealth.
FINALLY one of our citizens became so alarmed
by the doctors description Of the terrible results
of the scourge that he posted off to Helena to
seek further medical advice During his absence
the people rose in their might and drove all the
Cinnamon in town over the range, threatening
their lives if they ever returned. This was done
because the doctor had expressed an opinion
| that the plague originally came from the Co.
lestals, who must have brought it from China
I'm two or three days the stage came in from
| Helena, and aboard was our citizen who had
| gone to get medical advice. he Immediately
| called meeting of the leading citizens and
told them a strange story. He said the so-called
| scourge was no scourge at all; that we had all
| been duped; that the dlscooration which had
| alarmed US so greatly was nothing but the stains
/ of Prussian blue. and that the doctors at Helena
| had told him that one doctor must have gone
about town secretly dropping little bits of the
| dye here and thereon the rail of the one bill
| lIard-rabie in the town. the chairs in the
| saloon, the counters of the stores, and every
1 place where people would be likely to get ii
| upon their clothing person More than this,
| stains of the blue had been found on his coat,
and doubtless we could all find similar stains on
close examination of our clothing. Prussian
| blue, the Helena doctors had said was diff
| fusive substance, and 1t would be easy
matter for anyone starting out sys-
| tematically to place bits of it in such
| manner that every man in town would soon be-
come marked with it. Again, the oil which our
doctor had applied to the discolored parts was
common castor OIL put on, probably, for the
| purpose OF fixing the color so it could not be
easily washed off, while the wonderful medi
cine which he had procured from Helena al
such great expense proved, on analysis, to be q
mixture of kerosene OIL water and red pepper.
| with howl of rage The meeting broke uE
| and started, every man on the run and with his
| revolver drawn, for the Office of the doctor. Bu
| he could not be found. During the previous
night he had jumped the town, and by this time
was probably many mile on his way to the
railway. A party of citizens mounted the
horses aud started in pursuit, but returned tn,
next day without catching sight of the fugitive
For In ten days that cute doctor, tired of trying
to earn his living by practicing medicine in 81
healthy town as Eagle. had bagged about $1l
900 profit on his investment Of a dollar in Prus
sian blue. And he got away with every cent Of
i'll